VTS Board, Management and Team

Stephen Chappell is a solicitor. He has spent the majority of his legal career in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). His last role in the CPS was as Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East Midlands. Since leaving the CPS in late 2015 Stephen has developed a portfolio career with an interest in professional conduct issues. Stephen works for the Bar Standards Board (the regulatory arm of the Bar Council) and is a Legally Qualified Chair of Police Misconduct Hearings. Stephen is also a Lay Panel Member of the Primary Care Appeals Service dealing with appeals relating to the establishment and relocation of NHS pharmacies and GP dispensing services.
In addition, Stephen has been appointed as a Lay Advisory Committee Member which recommends magistrates for appointment. Stephen is also a Panel Chair at the Valuation Tribunal for England.

Kevin is a longstanding Senior Member of the Valuation Tribunal for England.  He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Catenae Innovation PLC and a Senior Associate of Marylebone Executive Search.   Kevin is also a Business/Education Advisor, having previously served as a Chief Executive of a City law firm and as a Director on a number of commercial and not for profit Boards.

Gary is a barrister called to the Bar of Inner Temple in 1989. He joined the Crown Prosecution Service and served in a number of roles including the International Branch dealing with complex international cases. As part of the international effort to normalize Kosovo Gary was seconded to UN mission as prosecutor helping to re-establish justice in that area. After a short spell back in the UK he moved on to the Hague as trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Previously, Gary was an elected member of the Bar Council, where he served for a number of years including being a member of the Professional Conduct and Law Reform Committees. In 2000 Gary was appointed an Asylum Support Adjudicator and then in 2003, he was appointed a Commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, responsible for the northeast, HMRC and the SOCA and played a part in the set up and roll out of the new system. Using some of that experience Gary was appointed as Deputy Chief Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales, again helping to set up a new system for dealing with complaints about legal professionals, working with the professions and other stakeholders to deal with complaints in a less combative way. These latter roles involved significant issues of administrative and regulatory law, together with governance issues of NDPBs.

Gary is also a qualified trainer, mediator and a deputy district court judge.

Alison is a senior member, sitting as Chairman of the Valuation Tribunal. She is a District Judge of the County Court, trying civil and family cases, having served as a Deputy District Judge in the County Court for one year.

Alison was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 2001 and was previously a District Judge sitting in the First Tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) for three years.

Before becoming a Judge, Alison was a barrister, practising in the areas of civil and criminal law. She had a property, regulatory and injury practice, appearing before various courts and regulatory bodies. She was also a Board member and Secretary of her Chambers Management Board.

Alison is a Practitioner Tutor on the Bar course at the University of Law and an accredited mediator and accredited advocacy trainer.

Alison has recently graduated from the London School of Economics with a Master’s degree in Corporate and Commercial Law.

In addition to being Deputy Chair of the Valuation Tribunal Service, Suzanne is Chair of the National Guardian Office’s Accountability and Liaison Board, and a chair of two charities. She is also a Non-Executive Board Member of the College of Policing, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Fundraising Regulator where she chairs the Standards Committee. Previously she was a Board Member of the University of London, the General Medical Council and the Advertising Standards Authority.

She was CEO of both the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Her last Executive role was as the UK’s Immigration Services Commissioner.

Initially working as a lawyer, with an LL.M. degree from Cambridge, she left private practice and then lectured in law at Manchester University before going into the civil service working first at the Home Office, where she served as Private Secretary to two Home Secretaries, and then at HM Treasury.

Harry Rich is Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Chair of the Intellectual Property Office, governor of the Glasgow School of Art, an Executive Coach and business advisor. He is a non-practising solicitor, Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Harry was Chief Executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects and of Enterprise UK, Deputy Chief Executive of the Design Council and developed and sold two businesses. He has been a Board Member of the UK government’s Creative Industries Council and the US-based Design Management Institute.

A qualified chartered surveyor, Tony has over 30 years’ experience in local taxation appeals, having led on a number of changes, addressed numerous conferences and authored many articles on the subject.

Tony was the Clerk and chief judicial advisor to the London (North East) Valuation Tribunal from 1993, having joined it in 1988. He was appointed Corporate Director of the new, national VTS from 1 April 2004 and became its Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer in 2009.

In addition to holding professional memberships of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Chartered Institute of Building, Tony is a Fellow of the Institute of Rating, Revenues and Valuation (IRRV), the Institute of Financial Accountants and the Chartered Management Institute.

Tony has served on professional bodies such as the IRRV’s Council, the RICS Local Taxation Panel; he is currently a co-opted member of the Rating Surveyors’ Association.

Lee started his career in local government in 1988, working for a number of years across revenues and benefits departments dealing with domestic rating, non-domestic rating, community charge and council tax.

Lee initially joined the VTS in a technical capacity as a hearing clerk. Since 2007 he has specialised in organisational management, holding a number of senior management positions. During his time with the VTS Lee has been actively involved in a number of organisational change programmes providing ongoing efficiency savings and realigning front line services to meet changing stakeholder requirements.

Lee was appointed to his current role as Director of Operations and Development in 2014. He holds a degree in organisation and management, and PRINCE2 and MSP practitioner qualifications.

Lee is a member of the IRRV Qualification Management Board and acts as moderator across a number of Institute examinations. He sits on a number of external professional liaison groups and has presented papers at an extensive range of national conferences and seminars.